The Laurisilva forest of Madeira Island As it is well known, some fossils from the south-west of France show the existence of trees, namely Laurus primigenia and Persea typica, similar to Madeira´s current Laurel tree (Laurus azorica) and Vinhático (Persea indica) dating from the Oligocene (38 million years). This information suggests that during the Miocene (23 million years), plant communities from the Lauraceae family with aspects identical to the flora that currently remains on Madeira